Communication(s), established via a connection between a call center advisor and a telematics unit user, may be utilized to request and provide various user services. After communication is established, a call center advisor may initiate a temporary suspension in communication with a user while maintaining the connection (i.e., placing the user on hold). The user may be placed on hold for any length of time, typically ranging from a few seconds to several minutes.
While on hold, the user may generally hear music selected by the call center, a pre-recorded message, or silence through the receiver. In the latter situation, after some amount of time elapses, the user may feel unsure as to whether the connection with the call center advisor remains active. In such instances, the user may terminate the connection and initiate a new connection, for example by “hanging up” and requesting a new communication. The call center advisor communicating with the user via the new connection may not be the same advisor with whom the user/subscriber was previously communicating. As such, the newly contacted advisor may attempt to locate the previous advisor, or may reinitiate fulfilling the requested service. This may actually increase the time for fulfilling requested services, and may undesirably and unnecessarily occupy more than one service advisor.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a method for informing a vehicle telematics user of the status of his/her communication connection.